Page 15 of Fake Dating the SEAL
As if her mother didn’t know. The woman had probably been peering out the window the moment she heard the car pull up to the curb.
“Why, Kenny. What a surprise.”
It took everything in Sara not to roll her eyes. This was, after all, what they’d wanted, her mother to believe her daughter had finally hooked a man. Now all she had to do was reel him in.
“It’s nice to see you Mrs. Alani.”
“Please, call me Missy.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kenny’s gaze darted from her mother to Sara, his smile instantly spreading so wide and sincere that her knees actually wobbled. Lord, could this man act. Probably something he’d had to do more than once as a SEAL when the stakes were much higher than what two mothers believed. “You look lovely.”
From the heat in her cheeks she knew she had to be blushing a hundred shades of red. “Thank you. I’ll put these in water and then we can go.”
“No need.” Her mom took the flowers from her hands. “I’ll take care of it. You two run along and have a nice afternoon.” Only a few steps away, her mom paused. “Should I pack you something to eat?”
“No, ma’am. We’re all set.”
Her mother shook her head. “I guess Missy will take some practice.” Without waiting for his response, she turned on her heel and scurried into the kitchen.
“You really do look beautiful,” his voice was low, and deep, and soothing as honey to a sore throat.
“Thank you.”
Extending his elbow to her, he gestured toward his car. At the curb, he opened the passenger door, waited for her to be seated, and then circled the hood, taking his place behind the wheel. “I hope you like picnics.”
“Love them. Ants not so much, but picnics can be lots of fun.”
“Good.”
“What would you have done if I’d said no?”
“Plan B.”
Her head tipped and she studied him for a second wondering if he really would have changed his plans, and then she remembered. “Plan for the best, prepare for the worst, and expect to be surprised.”
“That’s my girl.”
My girl? He did know he didn’t have to play the part with her, didn’t he?
“We’re not going far. Another fifteen or twenty minutes tops.”
She shrugged. “This is Kona, nothing is very far.”
“Good point.”
He hit the blinker arm and turned left up a street that Sara had never been on. Her mind quickly running through all the parks and picnic spots she knew of that weren’t on a beach. She was drawing a blank. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like a baby. That hotel has some seriously comfortable beds. The first night was a bit jarring. Every time I rolled over, expecting the firmness of a cot mattress beneath me, I was jolted awake at the softness of a cloud.”
“But not last night?”
He shook his head. “With each night, I was less surprised, and by last night, a bomb couldn’t have woken me.”
Too bad she couldn’t say the same.
For the next few minutes they discussed everything from the food at the hotel to her mother’s reaction to the flowers. When he turned off the street onto a nearly dirt road, she forgot to carry her end of the conversation, focusing on all the shrubs and trees, and overgrown land around them. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. We’re almost there.” Once they came around a wide curve, he pulled down another dirt road that bounced them all the way to a clearing at the edge of the hill. Unlike the rest of the surrounding wild landscape, this patch of land was grassy, freshly mowed, and had a single unpainted picnic table dead center. Thank heaven. Just as he’d done when she entered the car, he trotted around the hood and opened her door. “Wherethe creature comforts are lacking, the view should make up for it.”
